───── ❝ BANANAS ❞ ─────

bananas

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"Starting today, Baji Keisuke, the 1st Division Captain is an enemy of Toman"

Baji's words and actions have yet to leave your mind since the night they happened. It had been days since the event occurred, yet you would still find yourself endlessly thinking and worrying about what happened despite not even being a member of Toman.

You sighed and dropped your head to the ground, using a hand to cushion your head from touching the grass. For the past thirty minutes, you had been laying in the grass on your stomach in an attempt to nab a picture of a butterfly you had caught fluttering about. Unfortunately, not only did the butterfly avoid you at all cost, but whenever it did approach, the thoughts of Baji occupied your mind so much that you ended up missing the picture.

jingle

"Hm? And what are you doing there, miss?"

The sudden sound of someone speaking caused you to jump and roll over, accidentally pressing the button on your polaroid camera and snapping a photo of the mysterious person.

The man blinked at the flash, before looking down at you confused. He tilted his head before sending you a concerned smile, "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to spook you."

You sat yourself up and placed a hand on your heart, waiting for your heartbeat to slow down before looking up to the owner of the voice.

Squinting your eyes, you intially were unable to see the person's face due to the rays of the sun shining down on him and illuminating his figure. However, as your eyes adjusted, your eyes locked with a pair of sandy yellow ones. Blinking for a while, you soon observed his messy, black, wolf-cut hair with tufts of yellow at the top that oddly reminded you of bananas...

Holding back a chuckle at the thought, your eyes travelled down to his neck where you spotted an incredibly detailed tattoo of what looked like a tiger.

"Y'know, staring is considered to be very rude." The man spoke, tilting his head to the side as he smiled down at you. As he did, you heard a little jingle.

"S-sorry..." you mumbled, your face turning red from embarassment.

"But what are you doing on the ground? Are you sleepy? You should go home if you are." The boy questioned, holding out a hand to you.

You chuckled nervously and shook your head, reluctantly taking his hand. "Ah, n-no! I'm in the photography club at school, and I was just trying to take a photo of this butterfly I saw earlier..." The boy gently pulled you up and you quickly dusted yourself off and flattened your skirt down. Looking back at the boy, you quickly recognized his uniform, "Um, do you go to Mizo too? I don't think I've seen you around!"

He smiled at you and nodded, jingling once again, "Yeah... I was just away for some personal reasons, but I'm back now. I'm Hanemiya Kazutora, a third-year."

Your mouth went in an 'o' shape as you clutched on to your camera. "Nice to meet you, Hanemiya-san. I'm [surname] [name]! Just a second year though!"

Kazutora was quiet for a while as he stared at you, a seemingly empty smile on his face. You were about to become uncomfortable under his gaze before he opened his mouth to speak, "[name], do you know a kid named Hanagaki Takemichi?"

At his question, your heart suddenly dropped. Deciding to ignore his informal use of your first name, you looked away from him. Takemichi? How does he know him... Should I tell the truth?

"Judging from your reaction, I think you know him!" Kazutora beamed, a wide smile on his face.

"Y-yeah, he's a classmate of mine. Did you need anything with him?" You asked, nervousness suddenly creeping up and down your body.

Kazutora nodded his head, "Do you mind taking me to him, please?"

Slowly, you nodded your head. "He's just inside the school. Let me just clean up here." You gestured to your things that were on the ground where you just were. Kazutora nodded, before turning around.

As he walked a distance away, you looked at the photo that you had accidentally taken of him in your time of surprise. Although it was an unplanned picture, it still showed his face quite clearly. Deciding it may be helpful to you in some way, you stuffed it into your backpack along with your camera before swinging the bag on your shoulder.

Walking up to Kazutora, you sent him a strained smile, "Let's go?"

Despite your obvious suspicions about the boy, he continued to show you a warm demeanor as the two of you walked together. Okay... maybe I'm overthinking... he is wearing those pants that all the gangsters seem to wear though... You eyed the pants he was wearing for a quick second before looking back up at him.

The two of you didn't talk much as you walked, but he kept a bright smile on his face as he walked. "So you're in the photography club?" He suddenly asked, eyeing you.

"Oh, uh, yep! I am. Photography has really been a passion of mine for quite some time now..." You mumbled shyly, looking down as a red tint spread across your face. You were incredibly excited to talk about your passion and hobby, but you didn't want to barrage someone you had just recently met with your rambling, so you did your best to hold it in.

"Hm? [name]-chan, who's that?" You stopped in your tracks upon hearing the voice and turned to see your clubmate, Amane, standing behind you with a raised brow sent to Kazutora.

"Ah! Amane-kun, this is Hanemiya-kun." You quickly told the ravenette as he continued to eye the taller boy, "He's a third year here."

"You can just call me 'Kazutora', [name]." Said boy suddenly intervened, putting an arm around your shoulder and leaning close to you.

Amane frowned and pushed the boy away, "Oi, don't you know you shouldn't just be touching girls like that? Especially one's you don't know."

Kazutora didn't reply as he glared at the amber-eyed boy. The two seemed to be at a glaring contest with you freaking out in the middle.

"U-uhm, Takemichi-kun should be just in that room," You got in between the two and turned Kazutora around, pointing him to the room where you presumed Takemichi would be. "You can go on ahead, I have to go back to my clubroom." You walked over to Amane and grabbed his arm, "Nice to meet you, Hane- uhm, Kazutora-kun!"

With that, you dragged Amane away to your club room, not realizing that Kazutora's eyes was following your figures until you had turned the corner and disappeared from his sight.

"Who the heck was that, [name]-chan? Another gangster?" Amane suddenly exclaimed once you guys were further away. "Either way, he gives such weird vibes..." The boy wrapped his arms around him and shivered, his childish demeanor returning.

"I thought that too, but he seemed pretty okay to talk to..." You mumbled, "But he did know Takemichi-kun... I wonder how they know each other. He doesn't look like the type of guy Takemichi-kun would hang around." You placed a finger to your chin and gazed up in thought, before sighing and shrugging, "No matter. Have you gotten your picture for today?" You asked, beginning to walk towards your clubroom.

The boy shook his head as he followed you, keeping pace beside you, "No... I want to get a picture of the stars tonight."

You chuckled, "Of course you do''. You know, you seem to be a lot more interested in astronomy than photography... why didn't you join the astronomy club instead?" A thought suddenly entered your mind and you smirked, "It's because Aiko-chan is in that club isn't it? And you don't want to make it so obvious!~"

At your comment, the boy instantly turned red.

Bingo~

"Wha-what the hell are you talking about!?" Amane retaliated, turning his head away from you as he began to walk faster.

"Aw, come on, Amane-kun!" You laughed, jogging to catch up to him, "Just say the word and I'll set you up!"

"Shut up!"

~

After getting home that night, you found yourself bored out of your mind. Having done your assignments (they weren't really finished, you were just procrastinating and convinced yourself they were) there was nothing to do. Currently, you were lazing on your couch and watching some anime on TV. Pao was napping next to you, cuddling up to you as you gently pat her fur back.

It wasn't until your phone rang did you finally feel something except boredom. Quickly getting up from your laying position, you answered the call before bringing the device up to your ear. "Hello?"

"Well hello there, princess~"

Ran's voice surprised you, but you let out a bright smile even if he couldn't see it, "Ran! It's been a while!"

"Agreed~ You've yet to visit us again..." Ran's voice sounded of sadness as he spoke, but you couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at his words.

"Well, there's been a lot of things happening lately... I just haven't gotten the chance to visit again but I will try to. I've been missing Yuuki-chan and Haru-kun too..." As you finished speaking, your mind instantly went to Sanzu, causing you to clear your throat as you felt your face heat up.

"Heh? Who are those?" Ran questioned, "Never mind that, we've heard what happened though..." The older boy's tone quickly became serious as he spoke.

You gulped, and let out a nervous laugh,"Oh, did you?"

"Of course! We heard about it the night it happened." Ran explained, "I still remember Rindou being freaked out of his mind!" As Ran laughed, you can hear someone in the background, you assuming it was Rindou, telling the male to shut up. He quickly complied and cleared his throat, "It was a pretty big thing because not only did it involve Toman and their princess-"

"I am not."

"It is also rumoured that the top gang in Tokyo may somehow be part of it."

Your brows furrowed at his words and you leaned down to place your elbows on your knees, "The top gang?"

"Yeah. Some top-brass people named 'The Nameless'" Ran laughed at his own words, "Ironic, isn't it? But yeah, if they are somehow part of your kidnapping, this means there's something bigger than Toman going on here. You need to be a lot more careful, [name]."

You frowned, "It's not like that's something I can just control..."

"I get that... say, why not move to Roppongi so your favourite brothers can always keep an eye on you and keep you safe?~" Ran's teasing voice quickly returned, causing you to let out a sigh, "Imagine our sleepovers~ And then at night, you can sleep with me so that we can-"

"Yeah, no thanks." You quickly interrupted the boy, feeling your face heat up from his words. "I'd rather not do that."

"What? Cuddle each other to keep each other warm?" Ran's voice sounded like he was pouting but there was still a teasing undertone.

"That, and just moving there in general."

"Those Toman guys can barely protect you. See what happened? Why wasn't someone even with you?"

You sighed at Ran's overbearing questions. "Ran, you know I love you but sometimes you feel more like an overbearing mother than my real mom... and that's saying something!"

The line was quiet on the other side, and the longer the silence lasted, the more anxiety crept up your spine. Was that too insulting...? Mother can be too much at times...

"You... you love me?"

Your eyes widened and you suddenly felt your heart thumping at his words, "O-oi, don't take that out of context, you Annabelle-looking prick! You know what I meant by that..." As you spoke, you tried your best to keep your voice stable. You didn't even realize what you said until Ran had repeated your own words back to you.

"I know, but-"

Ran's words were suddenly cut off by a series of harsh knocks on your door, causing you to jump. You let out heavy breaths from the surprise as you looked at your front door with wide eyes.

"Hello? [n/n]-chan, what was that?"

"U-uhm... I don't know. Someone's knocking..."

Taking in a deep breath of confidence, you got up from your couch and slowly made your way to the door. "[n/n]-chan, are you okay?"

"I-I'll call you back, okay?" You muttered into the phone and quickly ending the call, not even letting the boy reply. As you dropped your phone to the couch, the loud knocks repeated once again. This time, it spooked Pao to the point of barking and yipping at the front door.

You tried your best to hush her as you approached but to no avail. Sighing, you grabbed the baseball bat you kept right next to your door just for situations like these. The longer you took, the more impatient the banging on your door became.

Gulping, you got close to the door and looked through the peephole, only to see nothing but black. Feeling your heart beat faster, you quickly made sure your door was locked before fastening the chain lock at the top.

The knocking had stopped and you were about to step away to grab a stool to block the doorknob when the person on the other side spoke, "[surname]-san... help me..."

Your eyes widened and you instantly dropped your bat and unlocked your door. You swung the door open and instantly stumbled back as someone fell into your arms.

"Matsuno-san?!"

~

You frowned as you stared at the boy's unconscious form. When he fell into your arms all bloodied and bruised, you had no idea what to do or what happened to him. But considering he was in his gang uniform, you had some sort of clue.

You had barely managed to drag the boy over to your couch where you had worked on cleaning the wounds on his face and bandaging his injuries. You were barely able to finish on his eyepatch before the boy fell unconscious, leading to where you are now.

It had been almost an hour since Chifuyu had fallen asleep - he was asleep and you knew because you made sure to check he was still breathing every once in a while. Sighing, you stood up and made your way to the kitchen to grab yourself a glass of water.

When you had returned, you nearly dropped the glass in surprise to see Chifuyu sitting up on your couch, his head facing up to stare at the ceiling. "Matsuno-san! You should stay laying down!" You rushed to his side, setting the glass of water down on your table.

"I'm... I'm okay." Chifuyu mumbled, refusing to look at you as he continued to stare up. "Thank you for taking care of me... I didn't want my mom seeing me like that and make her worry. That was one of Baji-san's biggest values..."

You looked at him worriedly before placing a hand on his leg. You felt the boy tense under your touch and he turned his gaze to you, "Matsuno-san, who did this to you?"

Chifuyu seemed conflicted as he thought of his answer before looking away, "B-... Baji-san did."

"Baji-san?!"

"But he did it for a good reason!" Chifuyu instantly defended, turning towards you with wide eyes as soon as he heard your angry tone.

"And for what good reason did he have?!" You retaliated. "Matsuno-san, Baji-san has left Toman. He's detached himself from us, and most importantly you. Doesn't it hurt you that he's decided to not meet with us anymore to walk? He beat Takemichi up, and now look at what he's done to you." As you finished speaking, your tone became a lot softer when you realized Chifuyu's pained expression.

However, it didn't last long as he soon looked at you with determination, "I know Baji-san. He might say he's an enemy of Toman, but I know that's not true. He's up to something, and I'm going to do everything I can to help him." Chifuyu clenched his fists as various thoughts unknown to you circled his mind.

"I don't know, Matsuno-san... are you sure you're not just being delusional? You did look like your head got pretty beat..." You questioned, leaning ever so slightly closer to the boy.

The small change in distance however was enough for the boy to turn into a tomato and he instinctively moved back, "Y-yeah, of course! I know Baji-san... I've been by his side for forever. He wouldn't just leave us like that." The blond stared down at his clenched fists, seemingly glaring at them.

As he did, you did some staring of your own. At him. It was the first time you got a good look at the boy. Whenever you were with him, Baji was always there with you two and the blond always seemed to shy off into the background. Chifuyu seemed to really take his role as Baji's right-hand man incredibly seriously. He was always following the ravenette like some sort of child.

But now, that child was left alone, forced to go through a situation like this with no guidance. A situation where the light he had followed so dearly suddenly disappeared. Through the bandages of his injuries, you could still see remnants of that child. Yet at the same time, you were able to see the features of a mature, young man who refuse to give up on what's most important to him.

He is pretty cute, isn't he?

"If that's what you believe, then..." With a smile, you placed a hand on Chifuyu's fist, "I'll do my best to help in any way I can.

Chifuyu stared at you with wide eyes, his mouth agape. He suddenly felt his heart beating fast. He returned your smile with his own, iconic one. "Thank you so much, [surname]-san."

You nodded your head, before looking up at the clock on your wall, "Anytime, but you should be heading home. You don't want your mom worrying about you, right?"

The blond's eyes seemed to widen even more as he suddenly shot up, "Ah, you're right! I'm so sorry for overstaying." He rushed to the door and worked on putting his shoes on as you walked after him, laughing as you did.

"Nothing to apologize for~"

"Thank you again, [surname]-san!" Chifuyu breathed out as he opened the door.

"No problem! Get home safe!"

The boy nodded his head and took a single step outside your door when he suddenly paused in his tracks. With no warning, he suddenly turned around and next thing you knew, you were enveloped in a warm, gentle, yet tight embrace.

Chifuyu wrapped his arms around your neck as he held his head down. "Really... thank you. For everything..." You were shocked at first, but eventually you returned the boy's embrace. You could feel his grip on you tightening as you did. As you embraced him, you nuzzled your head closer to his, a warm feeling filling your soul.

The two of you eventually let go of each other, both with slightly red faces that was hopefully hidden under the darkness of the night. "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me..." Chifuyu apologized, quickly bowing as he refused to look you in the eyes.

You just smiled at him, "Get home safe, Matsuno-san."

The boy paused and seemed to look conflicted before speaking, "U-uhm, you can just call me Chifuyu."

"Is that so?" You chuckled as he shyly nodded, "Well then, don't be shy in calling me [name] as well."

Chifuyu seemed to beam at your offer and he vigorously nodded his head. "Goodnight!" He waved before turning to jog off towards his own apartment. Making your way to lean on the railing, you watched as he made his way to his front door, which so happened to be the one directly across from yours.

Before Chifuyu made his way inside, you see him turn and wave at you. Chuckling, you waved back before he disappeared inside his own home. Once you saw he was gone, you made your way back inside your apartment with an itching feeling that you had forgotten something.

As you sat down on your couch, you looked around and patted around you, wondering just what it was. Pouting, you felt annoyed that you couldn't remember.

Just when you were about to give up, your phone dinged. Grabbing it, your mouth dropped as you quickly remembered just what it was you forgot.

Rannabelle💇

Rannabelle💇
oi

you didnt cal me back >:(

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Look who finally made an appearance! it's banana boy!
only two more to go ;)

chifufu my favourite boy finally got his time to shine

Also QUESTION, how do you guys feel about the story's pacing? Too slow or is it okay? As you can tell I like to add in my own plot but I feel like it's slowing down the progression on the manga... idk if it's good or bad :C

ALSO WHO WAS GONNA TELL ME THERES A NEW EPISODE OUT??

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed ^^ Comments and votes are highly appreciated <3